Impaired Response of HIV Type 1-Specific CD8 + Cells from Antiretroviral-Treated Patients

Impairment of the response of HIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells, in spite of the high frequency of occurrence of these cells even in the advanced phase of HIV-1 infection, has been demonstrated. It is also known that new antiretroviral treatments are able to reduce the viral load and partially repair the immunological damage caused by HIV-1, but it is not clear whether the extent of these changes affects the functional profile of HIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells. We evaluated, in HIV-1⁺ patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy, the HIV-specific CD8⁺ subset distribution and their functional capacity as intracellular expression of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and perforin after PMA stimulation. Our results indicate that HIV-1⁺-treated individuals show distributions of HIV-specific CD8 subsets similar to nontreated patients, while the frequency of HIV-specific CD8 cells expressing IFN-γ and perforin after stimulation is lower in HAART-treated patients. This indicates that HAART, which controls viral replication, may impair the HIV-specific CD8⁺ response.